Promoting Women in Trucking Workforce Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5145 To require the Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administra- tion to establish an advisory board focused on creating opportunities for women in the trucking industry, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 18, 2019 Mr. GALLAGHER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To require the Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to establish an advisory board fo- cused on creating opportunities for women in the truck- ing industry, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Promoting Women in 4 Trucking Workforce Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds that— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Nov 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5145.IH H5145 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5145 IH (1) women make up 47 percent of the work- 1 force of the United States; 2 (2) women are significantly underrepresented in 3 the trucking industry, holding only 24 percent of all 4 transportation and warehousing jobs and rep- 5 resenting only— 6 (A) 6.6 percent of truck drivers; 7 (B) 12.5 percent of all workers in truck 8 transportation; and 9 (C) 8 percent of freight firm owners; 10 (3) given the total number of women truck driv- 11 ers, women are underrepresented in the truck-driv- 12 ing workforce; and 13 (4) women truck drivers have been shown to be 14 20 percent less likely than male counterparts to be 15 involved in a crash. 16 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING WOMEN IN 17 TRUCKING. 18 It is the sense of Congress that the trucking industry 19 should explore every opportunity, including driver training 20 and mentorship programs, to encourage and support the 21 pursuit of careers in trucking by women. 22 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 23 In this Act: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Nov 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5145.IH H5145 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5145 IH (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 1 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 2 Motor Carrier Safety Administration. 3 (2) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the 4 Women of Trucking Advisory Board established 5 under section 5(a). 6 (3) LARGE TRUCKING COMPANY.—The term 7 ‘‘large trucking company’’ means a motor carrier (as 8 defined in section 13102 of title 49, United States 9 Code) with an annual revenue greater than 10 $1,000,000,000. 11 (4) MID-SIZED TRUCKING COMPANY.—The term 12 ‘‘mid-sized trucking company’’ means a motor car- 13 rier (as defined in section 13102 of title 49, United 14 States Code) with an annual revenue of not less 15 than $35,000,000 and not greater than 16 $1,000,000,000. 17 (5) SMALL TRUCKING COMPANY.—The term 18 ‘‘small trucking company’’ means a motor carrier 19 (as defined in section 13102 of title 49, United 20 States Code) with an annual revenue less than 21 $35,000,000. 22 SEC. 5. WOMEN OF TRUCKING ADVISORY BOARD. 23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—To encourage women to enter 24 the field of trucking, the Administrator shall establish and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Nov 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5145.IH H5145 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5145 IH facilitate an advisory board, to be known as the ‘‘Women 1 of Trucking Advisory Board’’, to promote organizations 2 and programs that— 3 (1) provide education, training, mentorship, or 4 outreach to women in the trucking industry; and 5 (2) recruit women into the trucking industry. 6 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall be com- 8 posed of not fewer than 7 members whose back- 9 grounds allow those members to contribute balanced 10 points of view and diverse ideas regarding the strate- 11 gies and objectives described in subsection (c)(2). 12 (2) APPOINTMENT.—Not later than 270 days 13 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis- 14 trator shall appoint the members of the Board, of 15 whom— 16 (A) not fewer than 1 shall be a representa- 17 tive of large trucking companies; 18 (B) not fewer than 1 shall be a representa- 19 tive of mid-sized trucking companies; 20 (C) not fewer than 1 shall be a representa- 21 tive of small trucking companies; 22 (D) not fewer than 1 shall be a representa- 23 tive of nonprofit organizations in the trucking 24 industry; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Nov 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5145.IH H5145 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5145 IH (E) not fewer than 1 shall be a representa- 1 tive of trucking business associations; 2 (F) not fewer than 1 shall be a representa- 3 tive of independent owner-operators; and 4 (G) not fewer than 1 shall be a woman 5 who is a professional truck driver. 6 (3) TERMS.—Each member shall be appointed 7 for the life of the Board. 8 (4) COMPENSATION.—A member of the Board 9 shall serve without compensation. 10 (c) DUTIES.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall identify— 12 (A) industry trends that directly or indi- 13 rectly discourage women from pursuing careers 14 in trucking, including— 15 (i) any differences between women mi- 16 nority groups; 17 (ii) any differences between women 18 who live in rural, suburban, and urban 19 areas; and 20 (iii) any safety risks unique to the 21 trucking industry; 22 (B) ways in which the functions of truck- 23 ing companies, nonprofit organizations, and 24 trucking associations may be coordinated to fa- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Nov 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5145.IH H5145 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5145 IH cilitate support for women pursuing careers in 1 trucking; 2 (C) opportunities to expand existing oppor- 3 tunities for women in the trucking industry; 4 and 5 (D) opportunities to enhance trucking 6 training, mentorship, education, and outreach 7 programs that are exclusive to women. 8 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after 9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Board shall 10 submit to the Administrator a report describing 11 strategies that the Administrator may adopt— 12 (A) to address any industry trends identi- 13 fied under paragraph (1)(A); 14 (B) to coordinate the functions of trucking 15 companies, nonprofit organizations, and truck- 16 ing associations in a manner that facilitates 17 support for women pursuing careers in truck- 18 ing; 19 (C)(i) to take advantage of any opportuni- 20 ties identified under paragraph (1)(C); and 21 (ii) to create new opportunities to expand 22 existing scholarship opportunities for women in 23 the trucking industry; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Nov 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5145.IH H5145 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5145 IH (D) to enhance trucking training, 1 mentorship, education, and outreach programs 2 that are exclusive to women. 3 (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 6 shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, 7 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 8 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of 9 the House of Representatives a report describing— 10 (A) any strategies recommended by the 11 Board under subsection (c)(2); and 12 (B) any actions taken by the Adminis- 13 trator to adopt the strategies recommended by 14 the Board (or an explanation of the reasons for 15 not adopting the strategies). 16 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Administrator 17 shall make the report under paragraph (1) publicly 18 available— 19 (A) on the website of the Federal Motor 20 Carrier Safety Administration; and 21 (B) in appropriate offices of the Federal 22 Motor Carrier Safety Administration. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Nov 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5145.IH H5145 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5145 IH (e) TERMINATION.—The Board shall terminate on 1 submission of the report to Congress under subsection (d). 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Nov 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5145.IH H5145 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS